Greyfriars Day Nursery

Greyfriars Day Nursery Greyfriars Centre, 64 Friar Street, READING, RG1 1EH

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 13/03/2013 25/11/2008

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early years provision

This inspection: 1 Previous inspection: 2 How well the early years provision meets the needs of the range of children who attend The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children 1 The effectiveness of the leadership and management of the early years provision 1

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This provision is outstanding

 Staff provide children with an exceptional range of activities and experiences in the nursery, outdoors and in the local community which promotes their learning and development exceptionally well.  Children are extremely settled, confident and very happy as a result of the secure attachments they have formed with adults and the other children.  The manager and staff are enthusiastic, motivated and well qualified. As a result, they successfully promote children's welfare, learning and development.  The nursery is very successful in helping parents to be directly involved in their child's learning and development. There are effective systems in place for information to be exchanged frequently between the nursery and the parents.

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Information about this inspection

Inspections of registered early years provision are:  scheduled at least once in every inspection cycle – the current cycle ends on 31 July

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Information about this inspection

 scheduled more frequently where Ofsted identifies a need to do so, for example where provision was previously judged inadequate  brought forward in the inspection cycle where Ofsted has received information that suggests the provision may not be meeting the legal requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage or where assessment of the provision identifies a need for early inspection  prioritised where we have received information that the provision is not meeting the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage and which suggests children may not be safe  scheduled at the completion of an investigation into failure to comply with the requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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Information about this inspection

The provision is also registered on the voluntary and compulsory parts of the Childcare Register. This report includes a judgment about compliance with the requirements of that register.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed staff and children participating in activities in their rooms and the outside areas.  The inspector discussed specific activities observed jointly with the manager.  The inspector spoke to parents on the day to gather their views on the nursery.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector sampled a range of documents including children's observation, assessment and planning records, policies and procedures, children's details and other relevant information.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector held discussions with individual staff members, the manager and deputy of the nursery.

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Information about the setting

Greyfriars Day Nursery is a private organisation affiliated to Greyfriars Church. It registered in 2006. The nursery is situated in Reading town centre. The nursery operates from a specially converted house and separate hall on the same site. The nursery has four rooms and an enclosed outdoor area. The nursery is registered on the Early Years Register and the compulsory and voluntary parts of the Childcare Register. There are 173 children on roll and the nursery receives funding to provide free early education for children aged two, three and four years old. Children can attend for a variety of sessions. The nursery supports children with special educational needs and /or disabilities and children learning English as an additional language; accessibility to some areas of the nursery may be limited for those with disabilities.

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Information about the setting

The nursery is open five days a week from 8am to 6pm all year. The nursery also operates a holiday club for children aged three to eight years. The nursery employs 29 staff who work with the children. There are two members of staff who hold BA in Early Years and Early Years Professional Status, four members of staff qualified at level four, seven members of staff qualified at level three and eight are qualified at level two in childcare and education. There are 20 members of staff are currently undertaking training at level two, three and five. The nursery receives support from the local authority and has obtained the Reading Quality Improvement Award.

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To further improve the quality of the early years provision the provider should:

 make photographic books about the children in the nursery, showing things they like to do.

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who attend

Children are extremely happy and well settled in the nursery. All children show immense enjoyment and learn without realising it because they are having so much fun. Staff take time during initial visits to get to know the children and their families exceptionally well. This enables them to meet each child's individual needs and requirements extremely well. Children feel very secure because they form very firm attachments and close bonds with the staff, especially their individual key person. Children thrive as they participate in an inspirational range of activities, experiences and outings which cover all areas of learning. One of the many strengths of the nursery is the experiences provided for children in the local community. For example, visits to a nearby supermarket enable the children to select, weigh, scan and pay for a variety of items. This helps them to develop their mathematical and decision making skills. Weekly visits to the

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who attend

library for sing and rhyme time enable children to be aware of the community, socialise with others and develop their confidence. Children thoroughly enjoy playing outside. They readily participate in bike races, build sandcastles and explore the different textures in the garden. For example, children put on hard hats in the gravel areas and pretend they are builders. Babies and younger children have great delight crawling in the tents and through the large caterpillar.

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who attend

Children have many opportunities to access and use technology. They readily use computers and re-chargeable torches. Children enjoy using the digital camera to take photographs of things in the nursery that interest them or things they have made. However, they currently do not have a photographic book of their own to put the pictures in to enable them to share with others. Children are beginning to learn about nature and the environment in a variety of interesting and fun ways. For example, they learn about the lifecycle of the frog by using tadpole and frog puppets. Children enthusiastically show visitors the puppet which has some back legs growing and talk about the tadpole's next stage. Children's imaginative play is developing exceptionally well. They readily pretend to be shop assistants, using a cash register and talking on their mobile phone. Staff expertly extend children's learning by encouraging them to begin to write a shopping list. This

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who attend

helps children to begin to develop their writing and literacy skills.

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who attend

Children's communication skills are promoted extremely well at all times by staff. They readily ask open-ended questions and by the activities they provide. For example, younger children enjoy sing and sign time and staff talk to the children about what they can see out of the windows. Staff continually engage with babies at their level, ensuring they maintain eye contact and use lively voices. Story time is used exceptionally well to encourage children to link sounds and letters. Informative displays in the parents' entrance and a range of books available for them to take home encourage parents to continue to develop their child's early communication at home. Children enthusiastically participate in a range of activities to promote their creativity and senses. They explore and experiment with paint, play dough and feel a range of natural resources such as, rice and pasta.

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who attend

Children with special educational needs and/or those who speak English as an additional language receive excellent support and can access a range of resources and words in their own language. Staff help children to understand and value difference by exploring the cultural backgrounds of children who attend the nursery. Children readily celebrate festivals and events in their lives with each other.

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who attend

Staff are highly skilled at observing and evaluating children's learning. They maintain a comprehensive learning journey book for each child. Staff carry out regular three month assessments of children's development, which incorporate the two-year-old progress checks, which they share with parents. A very high proportion of parents contribute to their children's learning journal. For example, by the use of the 'wow' and 'superstar' sheets which highlight children's achievements at home. They are also fully involved in identifying their children's next steps in learning through regular discussions and meetings with key persons. Consequently, these strategies enhance parents' understanding of how their children learn, increasing their ability to fully support their children's progress at home. Effective systems are in place to ensure children are supported exceptionally well during their transition to school. For example, staff use transition books about the schools

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who attend

they are going to which include photographs of the classroom and the different areas of the school. This helps to ensure children's move to school is a positive experience.

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The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children

Staff are exceptionally warm and caring, which promotes children's confidence and sense of belonging. As a result children leave their parents with ease. Children display high levels of self-confidence and self-esteem as they interact well with others. They readily respond to requests from staff, share toys and take turns when required. Babies and younger children smile and chuckle with delight when cuddled by staff.

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The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children

There is a strong emphasis on the importance of healthy eating and lifestyles. Staff develop children's knowledge and understanding well through discussion, activities and daily routines implemented. For example, children are able to play outside in the fresh air in all weathers as they are provided with wet weather suits and fleeces for when it is cold. A healthy and nutritious range of meals and snacks are provided for children that include a good selection of fresh fruit and vegetables. Mealtimes throughout the nursery are sociable occasions. Staff feed babies in a reassuring and comforting way. Staff give toddlers time to explore and taste new foods as well as encouraging them to feed themselves using utensils. Older children competently serve themselves at lunchtime. They skilfully use spoons to select appropriate amounts of food and staff talk to them about how they have spent the morning.

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The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children

Children are aware of the hygiene procedures in place and the reasons why they should wash their hands before eating. Babies' health and well-being is given high priority and staff follow excellent hygiene procedures. Nappy changing is a positive experience as staff sing to the babies while they change their nappies helping them to feel comfortable and secure.

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The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children

The nursery is effective in its management of hazards. Risk assessments systems are particularly robust, both for indoor and outdoor areas, and for the many outings that take place. Children's safety is of a high priority and staff enhance and develop children's developing understanding of how to stay safe in numerous ways. For example, children participate in regular fire evacuation drills and learn about road safety when walking in the local community. Children are beginning to be aware of their own safety through gentle reminders from staff while they play. A range of highly stimulating toys and resources are available for the children to independently access in each room. Staff in the baby room ensure the bright resources are stored within babies' reach on the floor or tables helping them to begin to explore and make choices. The inspirational garden area is exceptionally well resourced to provide adventure and excitement as well as enabling children to

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The contribution of the early years provision to the well-being of children

Children show very positive attitudes in their learning and social skills. For example, they are keen to help with everyday tasks, such as tidy-up time and helping to lay the tables at lunchtime. Children demonstrate a strong sense of responsibility. They show high levels of self-esteem and are very proud of their achievements. Staff use a calm and gentle approach to managing children's behaviour. They use praise specifically to encourage good behaviour and to motivate children. Staff help children to understand why certain behaviour is unacceptable by giving children reasons and suitable options. Consequently, children's behaviour is very good.

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provision

The manager and staff team have an exemplary awareness of their responsibilities in meeting the safeguarding and welfare, and learning and development requirements. Staff are highly conscientious in their safety procedures and supervision of children. They maintain consistently effective ratios, in order to support children at all times. Organisation and deployment of staff are rigorous, which results in effective supervision of the areas where children play. In addition to this, CCTV is in use to monitor the entrances to the nursery. Staff have a very thorough knowledge of the nurseries comprehensive policies and procedures. They implement these in practice to promote children's health, safety and well-being effectively.

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provision

Safeguarding is given the utmost priority. Staff receive suitable training regarding safeguarding so that they can act on any concerns they may have about a child's welfare. They are very aware of the procedures and steps to take if they have any child protection concerns about a child in their care. Staff are vigilant especially when they are in the town centre or on outings elsewhere. Robust recruitment, vetting and induction procedures ensure staff are suitable to work with the children. The majority of the staff have been at the nursery for a number of years. They are well-qualified and continue to attend a variety of training courses, in order to further develop their childcare expertise. The manager supports her staff extremely well, and staff morale is very high. Staff comment on how they enjoy working at the nursery and how well the manager supports and listens to them.

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provision

Partnerships with parents and external agencies are very strong, which results in excellent support for children. Staff actively engage with parents and work closely with them, to meet the needs of children. Parents spoken to on the day made many positive comments about the staff and how friendly, approachable and supportive they are. Parents also appreciate the many outings staff take the children especially the theatre trips. All parents spoken to would thoroughly recommend the nursery and say how happy their children are in the nursery. The manager and staff constantly reflect on and monitor the effectiveness of the nursery and strive for further improvements. For example, they frequently evaluate children's progress, the effectiveness of activities and seek parents' views. Regular staff meetings provide invaluable opportunities for staff to discuss and share their ideas and suggestions. The manager regularly meets up with other childcare professionals and nursery managers

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provision

in the Reading area to discuss best practice and share ideas. All these measures ensure the on-going development of this outstanding nursery.

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The Childcare Register

The requirements for the compulsory part of the Childcare Register are Met The requirements for the voluntary part of the Childcare Register are Met

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Grade Judgement Description

Grade 1 Outstanding Outstanding provision is highly effective in meeting the needs of all children exceptionally well. This ensures that children are very well prepared for the next stage of their learning. Grade 2 Good Good provision is effective in delivering provision that meets the needs of all children well. This ensures children are ready for the next stage of their learning. Grade 3 Satisfactory Satisfactory provision is performing less well than expectations in one or more of the key areas. It requires improvement in order to be good. Grade 4 Inadequate Provision that is inadequate requires significant improvement and/or enforcement action. The provision is failing to give children an acceptable standard of early years education and/or is not meeting the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the Early Years Foundation Stage. It will be inspected again within 12 months of the date of this inspection.

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Grade Judgement Description

Met The provision has no children on roll. The inspection judgement is that the provider continues to meet the requirements for registration. Not met The provision has no children on roll. The inspection judgement is that the provider does not meet the requirements for registration.

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Inspection

This inspection was carried out by Ofsted under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 on the quality and standards of provision that is registered on the Early Years Register. The registered person must ensure that this provision complies with the statutory framework for children’s learning, development and care, known as the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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Setting details

Unique reference number EY341447 Local authority Reading Inspection number 837789 Type of provision Full-time provision Registration category Childcare - Non-Domestic Age range of children 0 - 8 Total number of places 81 Number of children on roll 173 Name of provider Greyfriars Ministries Limited Date of previous inspection 25/11/2008 Telephone number 01189 589558

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Setting details

set out in the guidance ‘Complaints procedure: raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted’, which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.ofsted.gov.uk. If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk.

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Type of provision

For the purposes of this inspection the following definitions apply:

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Type of provision

Full-time provision is that which operates for more than three hours. These are usually known as nurseries, nursery schools and pre-schools and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. They are registered on the Early Years Register and pay the higher fee for registration.

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Type of provision

Sessional provision operates for more than two hours but does not exceed three hours in any one day. These are usually known as pre-schools, kindergartens or nursery schools and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. They are registered on the Early Years Register and pay the lower fee for registration.

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Type of provision

Childminders care for one or more children where individual children attend for a period of more than two hours in any one day. They operate from domestic premises, which are usually the childminder’s own home. They are registered on the Early Years Register and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage.

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Type of provision

Out of school provision may be sessional or full-time provision and is delivered before or after school and/or in the summer holidays. They are registered on the Early Years Register and must deliver the Early Years Foundation Stage. Where children receive their Early Years Foundation Stage in school these providers do not have to deliver the learning and development requirements in full but should complement the experiences children receive in school. achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children,

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Type of provision

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Type of provision

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.ofsted.gov.uk

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